Stretcher accessory for turning a patient

Abstract

A stretcher is provided as an accessory to a bed to facilitate a supine-to-prone or prone-to-supine transfer of a patient from the bed to the stretcher or vice-versa. The stretcher comprises a base frame, anchor means for clamping or otherwise securing the stretcher to a position adjacent the bed, and a patient support litter. The stretcher also includes a mechanical, non-bladder-based lift mechanism operable to preferentially raise either a left longitudinal side, or a right longitudinal side, but not both, of the patient support litter, in order to tilt the patient support litter toward the patient support surface of the adjacent bed. The stretcher is also collapsible for easy storage.

1. A patient turning accessory operable to be positioned adjacent a bed for receiving a person from, or transferring a person to, the bed, while turning the person between the supine and prone positions, the patient support accessory comprising:
 a mechanically-actuated mattress foundation having a longitudinal adjustable side and a longitudinal relatively fixed side opposite the longitudinal adjustable side; 
 a mattress mounted over the mattress foundation; and 
 a lift mechanism operable to preferentially raise the longitudinal adjustable side relative to the relatively fixed side of the mattress foundation, in order to tilt the mattress toward the adjacent bed; 
 wherein relative to its position adjacent the bed, the mattress is operable to rotate from a substantially flat to a tilted position in only one direction; 
 wherein the patient turning accessory is operable to be transported away from the bed after receiving a person from, or transferring a person to, the bed; 
 wherein the mattress foundation and mattress, when tilted, assume an upwardly-facing concave lateral cross-section to partially cradle a person being transferred away from or to the mattress; and 
 wherein the mattress foundation includes longitudinally-oriented rigid elongate members that keep the mattress foundation stiff along the longitudinal dimension. 
 
     
     
       2. The patient turning accessory of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a transport frame; 
 wherein the lift mechanism comprises one or more actuator subassemblies; 
 wherein each actuator subassembly is mounted to an actuator subframe; and 
 wherein each actuator subframe is mounted to the transport frame for movement between an outwardly extended operational position and a retracted storage position. 
 
     
     
       3. The patient turning accessory of  claim 2 , wherein each actuator subframe is operable to be pivoted about a vertical axis from the outwardly extended operational position, which is laterally oriented with respect to the transport frame, to the retracted storage position. 
     
     
       4. The patient turning accessory of  claim 1 , wherein the patient turning accessory has a structure that is symmetric across its lateral midsection, so that the patient turning accessory can be positioned adjacent either a right side, or a left side, of the bed. 
     
     
       5. The patient turning accessory of  claim 1 , further comprising a pair of control panels, each capable of operating the lift mechanism, mounted adjacent a foot end and adjacent a head end of the patient turning accessory. 
     
     
       6. A patient turning accessory operable to be positioned adjacent a bed for receiving a person from, or transferring a person to, the bed, while turning the person between the supine and prone positions, the patient support accessory comprising:
 a mechanically-actuated mattress foundation having a longitudinal adjustable side and a longitudinal relatively fixed side opposite the longitudinal adjustable side; 
 a mattress mounted over the mattress foundation; and 
 a lift mechanism operable to preferentially raise the longitudinal adjustable side relative to the relatively fixed side of the mattress foundation, in order to tilt the mattress toward the adjacent bed; 
 wherein relative to its position adjacent the bed, the mattress is operable to rotate from a substantially flat to a tilted position only one direction; 
 wherein the patient turning accessory is operable to be transported away from the bed after receiving a person from, or transferring a person to, the bed; and 
 wherein the mattress is collapsible along one or more longitudinal fold lines for folding the mattress into a compact storage configuration. 
 
     
     
       7. The patient turning accessory of  claim 6 , wherein the mattress foundation is operable to be detached from the lift mechanism and folded over the mattress, when the mattress is folded into a compact storage configuration, to collapse the patient turning accessory into a compact storage configuration. 
     
     
       8. The patient turning accessory of  claim 7 , further comprising one or more couplers operable to pivotally and detachably couple the lift mechanism to the adjustable side of the mattress foundation. 
     
     
       9. A patient turning accessory operable to be positioned adjacent a bed for receiving a person from, or transferring a person to, the bed, while turning the person between the supine and prone positions, the patient support accessory comprising:
 a mechanically-actuated mattress foundation having a longitudinal adjustable side and a longitudinal relatively fixed side opposite the longitudinal adjustable side; 
 a mattress mounted over the mattress foundation; and 
 a lift mechanism operable to preferentially raise the longitudinal adjustable side relative to the relatively fixed side of the mattress foundation, in order to tilt the mattress toward the adjacent bed, wherein:
 the lift mechanism comprises one or more actuator subassemblies coupled to the adjustable side of the mattress support foundation; and 
 wherein each actuator subassembly comprises:
 a sliding element; 
 a sliding guide that confines the movement of the sliding element; 
 a principal arm having superior and inferior ends, the inferior end of which is hingedly linked to the sliding element, and the superior end of which is coupled to the left longitudinal side or right longitudinal side of the patient support surface; and 
 a secondary arm having superior and inferior ends, the inferior end of which is hingedly linked to a section of the base frame and the superior end of which is hingedly joined to a midsection of the principal arm; 
 
 
 wherein relative to its position adjacent the bed, the mattress is operable to rotate from a substantially flat to a tilted position only one direction; and 
 wherein the patient turning accessory is operable to be transported away from the bed after receiving a person from, or transferring a person to, the bed. 
 
     
     
       10. The patient turning accessory of  claim 9 , wherein the principal arm is a telescoping arm. 
     
     
       11. A specialized patient rotation stretcher for receiving a patient from, or transferring a patient to, another patient support surface, while turning the patient between the supine and prone positions, the patient rotation stretcher comprising:
 a transport frame; 
 a mechanically-actuated patient support litter; and 
 a lift mechanism operable to raise and move inward a side of the patient support litter to a substantially vertical orientation to receive a patient from, or transfer a patient to, another adjacently-placed patient support surface, while simultaneously turning the patient between the supine and prone positions; 
 wherein the lift mechanism comprises one or more actuator subassemblies; 
 wherein each actuator subassembly is mounted to an actuator subframe; 
 wherein each actuator subframe is mounted to the transport frame for movement between an outwardly extended operational position and a retracted storage position; and 
 wherein the patient support litter is operable to be detached from the lift mechanism and folded into a compact storage configuration. 
 
     
     
       12. The specialized patient rotation stretcher of  claim 11 , wherein:
 the patient support litter has a longitudinal adjustable side and a longitudinal relatively fixed side opposite the longitudinal adjustable side; and 
 the lift mechanism is operable to preferentially raise the longitudinal adjustable side relative to the relatively fixed side of the patient support litter, in order to tilt the patient support litter toward the other patient support surface. 
 
     
     
       13. A specialized patient rotation stretcher for receiving a patient from, or transferring a patient to, another patient support surface, while turning the patient between the supine and prone positions, the patient rotation stretcher comprising:
 a transport frame; 
 a mechanically-actuated patient support litter; and 
 a lift mechanism operable to raise and move inward a side of the patient support litter to a substantially vertical orientation to receive a patient from, or transfer a patient to, another adjacently-placed patient support surface, while simultaneously turning the patient between the supine and prone positions; 
 wherein the patient support litter, when tilted, assumes an upwardly-facing concave lateral cross-section to partially cradle a person being transferred away from or to the patient rotation stretcher. 
 
     
     
       14. The specialized patient rotation stretcher of  claim 13 , further comprising one or more couplers operable to pivotally and detachably couple the lift mechanism to an adjustable side of the patient support litter. 
     
     
       15. A patient turning accessory for receiving a patient from, or transferring a patient to, another patient support surface, while turning the patient between the supine and prone positions, the patient rotation stretcher comprising:
 a transport frame; 
 a mechanically-actuated patient support litter; and 
 a lift mechanism operable to raise and move inward a side of the patient support litter to a substantially vertical orientation to receive a patient from, or transfer a patient to, another adjacently-placed patient support surface, while simultaneously turning the patient between the supine and prone positions; 
 wherein the lift mechanism comprises one or more actuator subassemblies coupled to an adjustable side of the patient support litter; and 
 wherein each actuator subassembly comprises:
 a sliding element; 
 a sliding guide that confines the movement of the sliding element; 
 a principal arm having superior and inferior ends, the inferior end of which is hingedly linked to the sliding element, and the superior end of which is coupled to the left longitudinal side or right longitudinal side of the patient support surface; and 
 a secondary arm having superior and inferior ends, the inferior end of which is hingedly linked to a section of the base frame and the superior end of which is hingedly joined to a midsection of the principal arm.